


Audacity

by catalysticskies



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Anxiety, Multi, Mutism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-18
Updated: 2013-04-20
Packaged: 2017-12-08 19:57:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/765374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catalysticskies/pseuds/catalysticskies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which the kids decide to try out skype for a call, but Dave is not as excited as the others to join in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

You settle back down at your desk, putting your juice down and rubbing the condensation off on your jeans. Placing your headphones over your ears, you crank up some of your favourite beats in the background as you browse through a few blogs. You're around for ten minutes or so when the icon in your taskbar flashes orange, the annoying little pop-up sound chiming in your ears. You open Pesterchum, seeing the new message from John. You hadn't seen him come online.

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] --

EB: hi dave!

TG: hey man

EB: did you hear about the skype thing jade is setting up?

TG: rose told me there was a skype thing

TG: but thats about it

TG: why whats the deal

EB: oh, well she's opening it tonight.

EB: i'm sure she'll get you to connect with us!

TG: probably yeah

EB: it's going to be great, we can talk to each other with more than just pesterchum.

EB: i get to hear what you all sound like, finally!

TG: wait

TG: what

TG: oh man skype is the video call thing isnt it

EB: yeah.

EB: why?

TG: nothing

TG: ill have to see if i can dig up my old cam

EB: don't you take selfies all the time with a cam?

TG: thats just a digital camera i sit on my desk

TG: for the sole purpose of ironic self portraits

EB: ok whatever, you better be ready when she starts it up!

EB: i don't know if she took timezones into account though...

EB: we'll see.

EB: anyway i have some stuff to do before then, so i'll talk to you later dave!

TG: ok later

\-- ectoBiologist [EB] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] --

That... Okay, that really isn't what you needed. You forgot that was the whole point of Skyping; voice chats. You can't help glancing a little whistfully at the little camera tacked to the top of your monitor, staring back at you with your reflection in the lense, like it's judging you. Looking at the time, Jade'll probably start about at about ten your time, so you still have a few hours to kill. And by kill, you mean fret endlessly. You're lucky you already ate tonight. You're going to need more than just juiced apples to keep you going tonight, but you'll do that later.

You feel that you should consult with your good friend, who happens to be quite apt at helping you when it comes to these kinds of things, as much as you hate to admit it. Thankfully she's online, though you weren't really expecting her not to be. She replies virtually instantly.

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] --

TG: hey rose

TT: Evening, Dave.

TT: How are you?

TG: oh you know

TG: pretty super

TG: chill as a motherfuck up here

TT: Really.

TG: yeah

TG: anyway did you know about this skype shit thats going down tonight

TG: i mean you told me there was a thing

TG: but thats it i didnt really get much more out of that

TT: Yes, I'm aware of tonight's proceedings.

TT: Jade is to notify the three of us -you, John, and myself- once the chat group is set up.

TT: We will then video call long into the night.

TT: Although not that long for her.

TT: Lucky.

TG: ok cool that settles that i guess

TG: so yeah

TT: Dave.

TG: yo

TT: Are you ok?

TG: yeah

TG: like i said

TG: super

TG: why

TT: You seem a little distressed.

TG: what if i am

TT: If I had to guess,

TT: you're not looking forward to this chat, are you?

Bang. She always seems to get you. You think that's a record, actually. You'll have to note it down.

TG: to be brutally honest

TG: no

TT: Tell me about it.

TG: come on not the psychologist thing

TG: i have bro convinced i dont need one

TG: dont ruin it

TT: Sorry.

TG: but yeah im just

TG: worried about what theyre going to think

TG: theyre probably really exciting you know

TG: 'yes we finally get to hear each other'

TG: 'lets all listen to dave'

TG: and im just

TG: there

TT: If you told them, I'm sure they'd understand.

TG: theyd probably do that thing where they try to help

TG: but i just feel pressured

TT: You could try talking to you brother first.

TT: Get used to the idea of having it open.

TG: he knows

TT: But you don't talk about it.

TG: what is there to talk about

TG: 'hey bro i have serious issues that you already know about'

TG: 'ok cool dave'

TG: what then

TT: How about "I would like assistance in overcoming said issues"?

TG: well maybe not as convoluted as that

TT: Obviously.

TG: gonna ignore that slur on my language

TG: but i guess i could try that

TG: i dunno

TG: ok yeah im gonna go talk to him

TG: since hes actually around right now

TG: later

TT: Good luck.

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] --

You set your status to 'idle', dropping your headphones around your neck -you're so glad you got wireless ones, even if they do chew through batteries like no tomorrow- and make your way out to the living room. He's stretched out across the couch, ginger beer in his hand as he watches some trashy sitcom probably just for the fun of it. He doesn't look up as you stop to stand in the doorway of the little hall that splits your two bedrooms. "Bro?" He makes a kind of 'mm' noise, which means he's listening. "Can I talk to you?"

His head tilts a little towards you. _Now_ he's listening. "What's up kid?"  
You take a breath, your face unchanging as you slip your hands in your pockets. "It's about how I am, with other people. My friends are having this big group video thing tonight, and I'm just..." Yeah, you lost it. Luckily he picks it up for you.

"Stressed about it." It's not quite a question, but not quite a statement. Nicely ambiguous.

"Yeah."

"Sit," he tells you, obviously meaning on the couch. You think you'd rather stay where you are, but you figure you're already out of your comfort zone, so why the hell not. You sit down a little stiffly next to him, watching as he turns the TV down a little. "What exactly are you worried about?"

This is the question that always gets you. You never really know the answer, and you fumble around it everytime you're asked. Which, thankfully, isn't often. "It's just that I've never talked to people, aside from you. Not for a really long time. They're going to be disappointed when I join and can't talk to them, and it's not cool to let your bros down you know?"

He takes a deep breath, one of those long paternal ones that means his thinking deeply about issues you shouldn't be bothering him with. "I dunno little man, it could be good for you." You can't help your eyebrow ticking up a little at that. "Sure it's really hard to do at first, but maybe having your friends helping you out and encouraging you could do you good."

"... You think so?"

"Wouldn't have said it otherwise."

You turn this over in your head for a moment, letting it leak into the gaps between the gears like oil, and maybe the cogs will work a little better afterwards. You hadn't looked at it from that perspective, or even had it occur to you. You guess that's why they say you should get second opinions. "Okay. Thanks, bro," you say, and you sincerely mean it. You stand up, going to head back towards your room.

"Hey," he says, and you pause, turning to look back at him. He looks at you silently for a moment, and you... you think he might be about to say something important? But his face loosens a little. "I take it you'll be up late?"

You wonder what he was about to say, but you figure he didn't say it for a reason. "Yeah, probably."

"I'll bring you a coffee later."

You nod him a thanks, going back off to your room. You slump down in your desk chair, rubbing your eyes under your shades before placing your headphones back over your ears. It's going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I got on board the headcanon of Dave having selective mutism because of social anxiety, and this happened. Going to have two or three chapters maybe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is mostly just a long log between Rose and Dave. I'm sorry I can't colour code it to make it easier to read, Ao3 just doesn't seem to want me to do that.

\-- gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] --  
GG: hiiii dave!  
GG: did you download it?  
TG: yeah its all ready to go  
GG: :D  
GG: ok, add me! im garden_gnostic  
TG: turntech_godhead  
GG: cool, so now i have you all added!!  
GG: are you ready?  
TG: yeah  
You get a pop-up, right in the middle of your screen. _garden_gnostic is calling you!_ it says. You brace yourself, and hit accept. Luckily the rest of them don't seem to have figured out webcams, or have just decided not to use them, because all you get is a vocal assault to the ears, so sweet and bubbly it could only be Jade.  
"Test, test? Are live?"  
"Wow, Jade? You sound adorable!" John has an accent that's kind of odd, but you think it suits him pretty well. "It looks like it's all working on my end."  
Rose sounds pretty much like how you imagined her, except slightly more delicate. "All's well here."  
"Yaaaay!" Note; turn down Jade's volume just a tad. "Gosh you all sound so nice, this is exciting!" She pauses. "Dave, are you there?"  
You take a deep breath, steeling yourself. You spend maybe a little too long just breathing in and out in an attempt to try and calm yourself enough, so you give up, deciding you wont try straight off the bat, and simply type:  
TG: yeah  
"What, why aren't you using your mic?" John asks, getting a 'yeah!' of affirmation from Jade.  
TG: my mics bust atm  
TG: so i can hear you guys but i cant talk to you  
"Aww, that's so lame. You should have said that before, I got all excited!"  
TG: sorry jade thats just how it is  
The rest of the conversation is mostly between the three of them, talking about the things you would usually talk about, except it sounds so different when spoken in their unfamiliar voices. You can't really type fast enough to keep up with their rambles, but you do join in here and there. Bro knocks on your door at about half past eleven, coming in to set a steaming mug of coffee on your desk. He glances wistfully over your screen, gently squeezes your shoulder, then leaves again. You're up talking to them until about two in the morning, when Rose decides that 3am is late enough to warrant going to bed. You, John and Jade stay up for a while after she leaves, John leaving shortly afterwards when his dad starts getting on his case about being up past twelve. You and Jade talk for a couple of hours, until she realises that 'it must be really late for you, holy crap', and tells you to go to bed. She closes down the group, saying she's going to feed Bec then do some other stuff before bed, and you're left alone.  
You think about checking to see if Bro's gone to bed, but you're a little tired, and running into him right now would be a little awkward. You sit back, looking at the chat window, your words the only ones listed under their display icons. You think you had fun. Getting to hear them like that in a group. It was nice, and you just wish you were able to participate. You guess that's a dream for another time. It's twenty past four in the morning and you wore yourself out stressing, so you hit the sleep button on your keyboard, leave your headphones and glasses on your desk, and throw yourself into bed.  
It's raining when you wake up, the drops tapping gently against your window as you pad out to the kitchen for breakfast. Bro isn't around, so you have free reign, which you flaunt by pouring some cereal into a bowl and taking it back to your room, where you sit down at your computer to catch up with blog updates and the like. So outlandish. You work on some comics until about three, when Jade pesters you to tell you she reopened the group and that Rose was already in. John joins about an hour or so later, and it's pretty much a repeat of last night. The chat dies much earlier today, Jade heading off for some 'island errands', with John and Rose not far behind.  
You grab another bowl of cereal for late dinner (which Bro, upon returning home, almost gave you a questioning look for) then settle down for another late night. You feel... oddly productive, as you stare at the empty chat window. You have to get over this eventually, you keep telling yourself. If you want to stay out of therapy you have to show some kind of want to not be the way you are. It makes you sick to your stomach to think about, but this is as good a reason as any to try.  
You turn your mic on.  
You're dead silent for a moment, your name in the little window in the corner of the screen to show you're live. You stare at it for a while before you try to talk. All you hear in your headphones is the sound of your lips parting, a pause, a frustrated sigh. You leave it on in the background while you do other things to distract yourself, occasionally coming back to it to try again. At one point you manage a small rasp, and you set that as your record.  
You're scrolling through some of your old comics for review (actually because you're bored) when the skype icon flashes, and you freeze. Was Jade back online? You open the window to see that no, it's not her. Rose sent you a private message, not in the group.  
TT: You're still up.  
TT: I'm not sure why this surprises me, but it does.  
TT: Do you ever sleep?  
TG: nah  
TG: sleep is for the weak  
TT: And the sane.  
TG: that too  
TG: i could ask the same for you  
TG: its like four where you are why are you up  
TT: Just the average nightmare.  
TT: I figured I would make the most of time that could have been spent sleeping by working on some things here.  
TT: Strangely I was distracted by a bizarre man.  
TG: is the bizarre man me  
TT: Perhaps.  
TT: The question still stands; why are you still awake?  
TG: oh im just doing some stuff  
TG: i sleep in hella late so i can stay up all night  
TT: I see.  
TT: Does that explain why the microphone that "doesn't work" is currently on?  
Oh fuck, oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck, you didn't turn it off.  
TG: who says it is  
TT: It clearly tells me when I look at the group chat.  
TT: I can also hear you typing.  
TT: It sounds like you have a very nice keyboard. Mine is much too chunky for my liking.  
TT: Maybe I should discuss buying a new laptop with my mother, though I doubt she would conform.  
TT: Why so quiet all of a sudden?  
Because you're panicking, fuck, why did you think this was a good idea. You hear your own breath of frustration echoed in your ears, and kick yourself even harder for not having turned it off yet. You smack the hotkey to turn it off, your little popup disappearing.  
TT: You don't have to sigh like that.  
TT: Is it because I'm here? Were you doing something private? There's a test option for that in the device settings.  
TG: no thats not it  
TG: well i guess  
TG: yeah it was important  
TG: and not the kind of thing i would do in public  
TG: god dammit its pretty much exactly what you said  
TT: What exactly WERE you doing?  
You guess you're going to have to tell her. At least it was Rose that caught you and not the other two -she already knows about your issues, to a degree, so you have a starting point.  
TG: ok  
TG: you know how i have this whole thing going on  
TT: Do I?  
TT: To which 'thing' might we be referring?  
TG: social things  
TT: Ah.  
TT: You know you can just say "social phobia/anxiety" right?  
TG: this is hard enough ok shut up for a second  
TG: we can discuss terminology later  
TG: meaning never  
TG: because thats irrelevant  
TT: Ouch.  
TG: shh  
TG: so this thing i got going on here  
TG: thats fucking up my brain  
TG: and in turn my life  
TG: it has one huge implication that i guess i should have mentioned a while ago  
TG: but i guess the whole problem is that i cant talk about stuff  
TG: or talk about anything  
TG: i cant talk at all  
TG: is what im trying to say  
TT: You seem to be talking just fine. Rambling a little, but talking all the same.  
TG: see thats the thing  
TG: i can talk just fine through chat clients and whatever  
TG: but if you put me face to face with someone  
TG: i just  
TG: cant  
TT: What do you mean?  
TG: i just freeze up  
TG: i get this weird hitch in my throat and i just cant say anything  
TG: along with the usual anxiety attack around people but thats not really relevant here  
TG: its only talking to people though  
TG: i mean i can talk to bro just fine were pretty chill  
TG: because i lived with him my whole life  
TG: but anyone else is just  
TG: no  
TT: So from what I've gathered of your lengthy, poorly structured tangent, it sounds like you have an incapability to form any kind of speech in social situations.  
TT: Would I be correct in assuming selective mutism?  
TT: ...  
TT: Dave?  
TG: yes  
TG: yes you would be dead on in assuming that  
TT: Oh.  
She's silent for a while. Several minutes pass as you chew your lip, watching the little icon at the bottom of the window telling you she's typing, then stops, then starts, then stops, then starts again. You're getting uncomfortable enough with the silence you're about to start talking at her again, when she finally sends a message.  
TT: To be honest, this is more serious than I thought. Without going into much detail I can only imagine the kind of impact -and impediment- this would have on your life, especially if you can't even talk to your close friends, let alone strangers. I'm not sure how much assistance I could prove to be, but perhaps now that you've opened up a little to me, it might be easier to talk to me? I want to try and help you where I can, even if it's just being an ear to listen. Perhaps that's all you need, though I do offer my utmost support.  
TG: thanks rose  
TG: i just  
TG: thanks  
TG: i really am trying to work through this  
TG: i think ill stick with trying the mic on my own  
TG: then maybe you could sneak in and listen  
TG: and then not sneak in and just like announce youre listening  
TG: baby steps you know  
TT: I know.  
TT: That sounds like a good plan.  
TG: yeah  
TT: I doubt you're ready for the others to know, so I'll leave that up to your discresion.  
TT: In the meantime, you should probably get some rest.  
TT: Or whatever you do instead of sleep.  
TG: this is what i do instead of sleep  
TG: but ok yeah  
TG: ill do that  
TG: and rose  
TT: Mm?  
TG: actually nevermind  
TG: ttyl  
\-- turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] --  
She's right -you really should be getting some sleep. You sign out of skype to avoid any further confrontations, but you stay on your computer for a while, until you end up passed out in your chair. It's certainly not the most comfortable of places to sleep, but you're not especially stiff when you wake up. You'd slept in weirder places, after all. Taking your computer out of sleep mode, it automatically signs you back in, the window popping up with your log from last night. You close it to stop yourself reading the whole thing, but glancing over it, you have a feeling that no, it might not be an entirely lost cause. You might actually get something out of this.


	3. Chapter 3

The next couple of months are kind of a blur to you. Between school and many consecutive late nights you're tired as fuck, which seems to be apparent on your face from comments bro leaves in passing. You wonder if Rose is the same, given she's up even later than you. You spend a lot of time alone in your room, moreso than usual. About a week of this and you're asked about it. "Everything okay with you man?"

He'd opened your door, leaning with his arms crossed against the frame. You clicked your mic off -you'd taken to having it on most of the time- and turned to him, judging the ghost of an expression on his face. "Yeah," you told him. He cocked an eyebrow just a notch. "I'm working on it." That seemed to satisfy him, and he didn't mention it after that.

Nothing changes while you're at school. People still tend to avoid you, and when they don't, it's usually to try and get your goat. Your grades don't change either, but you feel a little different about actually attending. You're not quite sure how, but different.

You spend your nights talking with John and Jade and Rose all together. Rose stays up with you most nights. The first week or so she doesn't talk to you much, just stays up to listen. Occassionally she'll talk to you, using her own microphone, a small quip about a cat gif or an interesting article. One night while you're just sitting at your desk and scrolling through your feeds, her lavender voice is piped into your ears again. "Oh, I just found this tutorial for little sweaters. I might make one for Mutie."

"You're embarrassing enough already," you say without thinking. Your voice is thrown back in your ears, and you freeze. You hear her surprised little breath on the other side of the line, and there's a long silence. You feel sick in your gut, the kind of weak queasiness you get whenever you're anxious. You just spoke to her, you just fucking used your words in front of a person that's not your brother, you talked to your best fucking friend. Your nerves almost shoot through the roof as you wait for her to say something, to hear anything. You can't even hear the little background taps as she types.

"I am not embarrassing. There's nothing wrong with cat sweaters." You cover the mic as you breathe a heavy sigh of relief. You're still worried what she thinks about what you just did, if it was good, if it was weird, but despite your jacked up nerves, you notice she sounded a little... brighter, when she said that. You cover your face with your hands, rubbing at your eyes to try and relieve some of the sudden stress. You can't help giving your palms a tiny grin. Fucking progress.

Across the span of the few weeks after that you end up talking to her more, starting with more offhand comments and growing to proper conversations. You actually form words on purpose, verbally responding to her, and holy fuck, it is so nice to be able to converse. It really helps when you find a box by your door when you go to leave one day, a little slip of paper sitting on top in scrawled handwriting. You pick it up, turning the box over to see it's... oh god, it's a new headset. The headphones are actually decent, but what gets you is it's one with the inbuilt mic piece. You always avoided buying those. You hook it under your arm as you read the slip.

_I'm proud of you, Dave._

You owe bro something really nice. You do find it odd that you begin to find little pieces of paper around the apartment in the weeks that follow though, ironic drawings of bro giving a thumbs up. You stash all of these in a box in your wardrobe for later retaliation.

Your first video chat doesn't go as well as you hoped, but you manage not to pass out from the amount of deep breaths you end up taking, and you actually get some words out after the third or fourth call. A fortnight down the track and you're talking to her without freezing up entirely whenever you hear yourself. It's a long and arduous process, but every night you end up going to bed talked out and pretty satisfied with yourself, you feel it's definitely worth it. Her encouragement really helps; she somehow manages to do it in a way that doesn't sound condescending, and her voice just sounds naturally soothing to you, especially when you're already half asleep.

The day comes around when you decide you can tell the others about it. You're already having one of your group chats on a Friday night, one of the rare times it snows where you live. John and Jade are talking away -apparently he got her to watch one of his movies, so they're discussing that in vigor, Rose dropping comments every now and then. You have her private window open next to the group, and you switch to that.

"I can't do it Rose," you say to her.

"You sound a little sick, are you alright?"

"Mix the fact that it's fucking freezing with the fact that I can't fucking do this, I'm done, no more."

"You've come so far though. Wasn't it only a short while ago that you said you couldn't talk to me?"

"Rose, it's been more than five months."

"That's an exceptional rate of progress. Psychiatrists would be in awe. From absolutely nothing to talking fluenty in five months really is a feat to be admired."

You get a flash as someone else starts talking to you. "Hold on," you say to Rose, opening the other window.

GG: dave are you ok??

Okay, you can deal with this.

TG: yeah im fine

TG: why

GG: oh ok, its just that youre not saying much today

GG: so i thought that something was up!

TG: nah were all cool here

TG: just busy with some stuff

TG: got a lot of irons stoking this fire you know

GG: heheh, yeah i know! such a busy guy

GG: as long as youre actually ok <3

TG: you know it

You pause, chewing at your lip. You switch back to Rose's window. "Okay we're cool."

"Was something the matter?"

"Not really. I mean, Jade was pestering me, but yeah it's all fine."

"Maybe that's a sign."

"Maybe not tonight."

There's a pause as she switches to say something in the group conversation, then comes back. "Too soon?"

"Yeah. I don't know, it's just... Maybe I'm not ready for this many people yet. I guess I could just tell one of them, but that's still really... Fuck, I lost where I was going. How would I even say it to them?"

"You could refrain from mentioning it to begin with. Just tell them that you're now able to use a microphone -which isn't a complete lie, so you don't have to feel bad about it- and go from there."

"Wouldn't it be obvious something isn't right if I keep fucking up?"

"Perhaps. Just talk to them as if you were talking to me. I am in the chat after all. You could try treating them as bystanders who begin to take part in our conversation."

"If that actually happened in the street I'd probably piss myself, but..." You sigh into your hand, Jade's laugh quietly in your ears. You have their volume turned down so you can hear Rose. "Do you really think they'd take it okay?"

"They're your friends, Dave. They love you. Even if it seems like they don't take it well, they'll be perfectly okay with it if they knew." There's a loud meow in the background. "See, Mutie agrees with me."

"Alright, since your dumb cat said so."

"Are you actually going to?"

"I'm... No, I'm not telling them yet. But I'm going to try and talk to them."

"Good luck." Good luck. It sounds exactly how you imagined when she said it in that first log, months ago, when you were going to talk to bro. Those two little words from her are strangely comforting. You switch to the group window, turning the volume back up.

"Oh my gooood, John, that's not what he meant when he said that!"

"Oh come on, don't tell me I missed the point of that golden line."

"You missed the innuendo."

"The what? Oh god, there was innuendo wasn't there. And I've been using it this whole time, fuck!"

"Perhaps you should have looked into the meaning behind it before saying it to people. A little foresight."

You take a deep, slow breath, your eyes on a flake to count, breathing out when it goes past the bottom of your window. You turn from the window back to your computer. You can do this Dave. It's not that hard right? Just a little...

"Hey guys." Your voice is scratchy and shaky and oh god no they stopped talking, you're just going to sign out and deal with this later, this was the dumbest idea trying to do this so soon, you have to go-

" _OH MY GOD DAVE IS THAT YOU_?" You cringe as Jade practically screams it out, followed by excited noises and little 'ohmygodohmygodohmygod's.

"Holy _shit_ , did you finally get your mic working? Damn it is so nice to hear you man!" John sounds equally enthused, if less squealy about it. You take a quick sip of your juice to try and clear your throat, god you wish this hitch would just go away.

"Yeah, finally here."

"It's been months, why didn't you just buy a new one?"

"They're fucking expensive."

"Your brother runs a porn site dude."

"Still."

Rose chimes in, and you're nervous about her giving stuff away, but she's pretty good at this. "It's nice to finally be able to hear you, Dave."

"Do you always sound like your throat got ran through by a toaster?" Jade is still venting in the background. You think she's talking to Bec about you, which is kind of adorable.

"That was the worst fucking metaphor I've ever heard, but no, it's just abnormally cold here." Not one hundred percent of a lie. You haven't had a panic attack yet, but your hands are shaking where you have them over the keyboard, so you ball them into fists and set them on your lap. Stay calm, Dave.

"Ohmygod Daaaaaaave, hi! Wow, imagine me sending you like a million hearts right now." You really don't think it's worth that much excitement, but everyone seems hyped. Even Rose, who knew beforehand, sounds really fucking pleased.

You're still relatively calm. Calmer than you expected to be. There are times in the conversation when you have to stop and breathe, but mostly it goes pretty well. One of the times you pause you look down at your desk, the little slip of paper you kept as a (totally ironic) reminder.

_I'm proud of you, Dave._

You think there's actually something in yourself to be proud of.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping that this was alright for a short vent fic, and that some of you at least enjoy it. If there's anything particularly wrong or offensive in any of the story (even if it's just a typo) please let me know. Thank you everyone for reading!


End file.
